Albuquerque Public Schools
Working for the Future with Freshmen
Cibola's Freshman Career Expo shared career pathways from a variety of industries.
Over 320 ninth graders attended Cibola High School's inaugural Freshman Career Fair on Wednesday morning. Held in the school's concourse, the Career Fair was presented in conjunction with the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce as part of the APS Freshman Academies initiative.
Freshman Academies are designed to move away from traditional classroom models toward team-based, career-oriented environments for ninth graders. Programs currently operate at Cibola, Highland and Manzano high schools, with plans to expand the initiative to six additional high schools next year.
"This is our third and final Freshman Academies Career Fair of the year," said Melodee Saiz, APS Business Community Liaison for Career and Technical Education and Career Connected Learning. "We started the year with Highland High School, then went on to Manzano, and now we're at Cibola."
Saiz, who's been with APS for two and a half years, said she was told when she was hired to "build new relationships, get our community involved ... and truly build those partnerships."
Cibola's Freshman Career Fair featured an eclectic blend of community businesses and organizations, including UNM Colleges of Engineering, Pharmacy, and Architecture & Planning; Presbyterian Hospital; Sage Truck Driving Schools; and even Por Vida Tattoo.
Erik Contreras, Director of Community and Business Development for the Hispano Chamber of Commerce, spoke enthusiastically about the importance of these community initiatives.
"The Hispano Chamber has over 1,400 members, and we focus on education and economic development," he said. "We thought we’d help make an impact for the schools. It's really about helping the kids early on to get on a career path."
One popular career option came courtesy of Presbyterian Hospital. Table organizers presented an interactive activity for the freshmen. Six CPR manikins were arranged in a circle as students, guided by a team leader, were taught how to perform CPR compression exercises.
Although the Career Expo sought to steer toward careers of the future, for Cibola freshman Michael Jaramillo it was an opportunity to add another practical skill, like CPR, to his current toolbox.
"It's nice to know that, in case something happens to somebody you know, you can help them because now you know how to do it," he said.